Just a quick post . . . yesterday evening as I returned from fulfilling the traditional male role of “taking out the garbage” I noticed something on the wall.

This Praying Mantis looks to be a juvenile. That’s confirmed by the stupid grin it’s sporting.

By the way, I had to be out in the sun to capture these photos and returned to the condo completely drenched in sweat. You are welcome.

This next photo is probably the best one of the bunch in terms of sharpness but I’ll have more photos in the gallery at the end. As usual, please click on the photos if you’d like a larger version or go to THIS SmugMug Gallery to see the full-size versions.

The sun was in the process of setting but was very bright. I was hoping for a few photos with less depth of field, but I couldn’t open up the aperture enough and still shoot at a fast enough shutter speed to compensate for hand-holding the camera. By the way, I used the Nikon 100mm macro lens for these shots and the photos are cropped. I should have tried the 70-200mm but I feared it would not be any better.

At one time I thought I might do better on the depth of field if I used the flash. I got better colors out of it (the setting sun was not only warm as in hot, but also warm as in color temperature).

In fact, the sun was so warm in color that the photos I shot with the P900 came out practically bright orange. I’ll have to play with the White Balance on that camera when I’m shooting late in the day because I wasn’t able to compensate fully for the color cast of the photos. At best, they still had a reddish/pinkish tint to them.

. . . so I resolved to convert them to B&W.

The best B&W conversion is this next photo.

Some cultures believed Praying Mantis had supernatural powers. I read that some people keep them as pets.

A few readers might wonder why I have the word “Moth” in the title of the post.

That is the Black Witch Moth. We were heading out for our daily exercise when it flew and landed on a wall of the parking stall. It’s a semi-covered area so there’s not that much light, but using the flash and a high zoom on the P900 got me a few good photos.

I would have liked my better camera, but this was about ten feet off the ground; I wasn’t going to get close enough for a proper macro shot of the wings design. Because it is the P900 and shot in not great light conditions, the photo won’t yield much at the pixel level, but it’s still pretty to look at.

Black Witch Moths are — in some cultures — seen as harbingers of death. Great; another thing to worry about (I won’t).

That’s it. I told you it was a short post.

What’s that? You want more cartoons? OK, but only a few.

Okely Dokely; here’s the gallery in random order . . .

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

<><><><><><><><o><><><><><><><><><o><><><><><><><>

Note: if you are not reading this blog post at DisperserTracks.com, know that it has been copied without permission, and likely is being used by someone with nefarious intention, like attracting you to a malware-infested website. Could be they also torture small mammals.

<><><><><><><><o><><><><><><><><><o><><><><><><><>

Please, if you are considering bestowing me recognition beyond commenting below, refrain from doing so. I will decline blogger-to-blogger awards. I appreciate the intent behind it, but I prefer a comment thanking me for turning you away from a life of crime, religion, or making you a better person in some other way. That would mean something to me.

Finally, if you interpret anything on this blog as me asking or wanting pity, sympathy, or complaining about my life, or asking for help and advice, know you’re likely missing my subtle mix of irony, sarcasm, and humor.

SO very cool to see the mantis’ face!
Amazing body patterns on the moth!
I’ve seen some intersting moths this summer, but no manti. (Is manti the plural or is it mantises?! I should google that.)
Great cartoons! Snort-Worthy! :-D
The last one got the loudest snort-laugh from me! :-D
HUGS!!! :-)

The mantis is too . . . uneven to be elegant. The very thin upper half is a stark contrast to its bulbous lower part. That said, it is a striking creature.

As for the cartoon, please understand it’s not always about you. There are at least a half-dozen other people I know who’ve had colonoscopies and all with similar — if not exact — experiences in preparation of one.